Democratic congressional candidate Joyce Healy-Abrams said Monday morning at a forum on Medicare that she would fight to preserve the traditional Medicare program and oppose a Republican plan to convert it into a “premium support” program involving private insurers.

Addressing more than 85 people at the Mayfield Senior Center, Healy-Abrams called traditional Medicare a “sacred trust.” She said the Republican plan, which was designed by congressman and vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan of Wisconsin to drastically reduce the deficit, would privatize Medicare and instead of providing a guarantee of covering health care costs would instead provide a voucher that’s “like a coupon.”

Healy-Abrams, of Hills and Dales, is running to be the congresswoman for the new 7th Congressional District, which includes Canton and most of Stark County. The Republican candidate is U.S. Rep. Bob Gibbs of Lakeville in Holmes County.

“If your health insurance happens to cost more than what the voucher’s worth, you have to pay for it,” said Healy-Abrams. “I’m absolutely opposed to it. It’s not OK. We cannot privatize Medicare. ... they’re shifting the health care cost to seniors. ... on the other side of the plan, there are huge tax cuts for the wealthy.”

Healy-Abrams said under Ryan’s plan, seniors with more health problems who can’t get private coverage will sign up for the traditional Medicare plan, while healthier seniors will enroll in private plans, further increasing the costs for those in Medicare.

RYAN PLAN

Ryan, the chairman of the U.S. House Budget Committee, has said that his plan makes Medicare sustainable for the long term. It would provide future seniors, those now under 55, an annual “premium support” payment that would average $11,000 depending on several factors including income and location of residency. Those now 55 or over would see no changes. In response to longer lifespans, the eligibility age for Medicare would gradually increase from 65 in 2021 to 69 1/2 after 2034.

Future seniors could use the payments to cover premiums for private insurance or enroll in the traditional Medicare plan. The payments would increase by a rate tied to the consumer price index and “medical care component” of the index, which Democrats say would not keep up with health care costs.

Dan Fonte, 67, of Canton, the president of the board of the Mayfield Senior Center, gave some remarks before introducing Healy-Abrams at the forum. To him, any change to Medicare is unacceptable — even for just future generations.

“You need to make sure that the person you vote for is going to preserve Social Security and Medicare just the way it is," Fonte told the mostly elderly audience. “Because I'm not worried about Social Security and Medicare for me. I'm worried about Social Security and Medicare for my kids, your kids, my grandkids, your grandkids, my great grandkids and your great grandkids if we have any. ... I don't want to privatize. I don't want none of this other crap. I want it just the way it is."

Page 2 of 3 -
WHO PAYS FOR MEDICARE?

Phillip Rotondi, a member of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare, which has endorsed Healy-Abrams, said at the forum that the 1.45 percent Medicare payroll tax pays for Medicare Part A, which is hospitalization coverage. Seniors’ premium payments of more than $100 a month cover 55 percent of the cost of Medicare Part B outpatient coverage, while the taxpayers and the nation’s creditors cover the rest.

Healy-Abrams said Gibbs voted twice for Ryan’s budget plan, which passed the House but died in the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate.

“My opponent wants to privatize Medicare,” Healy-Abrams said, adding that the program was designed to lift seniors out of poverty. “It’s a clear choice.”

In response, Gibbs’ campaign issued a statement:

“President Obama’s health care plan raided $716 billion out of Medicare funding for senior citizens. I have continually voted to stop and to repeal this plan. I have never supported any plan that would change benefits for current retirees or soon-to-be retirees. Rather than deep cuts to our seniors' care, I have promoted saving the program for our current and future retirees. The fact is if we do nothing, the system will not be there for future retirees, and that is unacceptable."

WHAT’S THE DEMS’ PLAN?

Janice Jacobs, of North Canton, a Medicare enrollee, says while Healy-Abrams spent a lot of time blasting the Republicans’ plan, she would like to hear more about the Democrats’ plan to make Medicare fiscally sustainable.

“There was too much focus on what (Republican presidential candidate Mitt) Romney and Ryan are going to do ... and there wasn’t enough focus on what the Democratic plan is,” she said.

Healy-Abrams said she would support allowing Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug prices and implementing wellness programs to cut health care costs.

However, it’s not clear if that would be sufficient to address the constantly increasing costs of Medicare.

Roger Werstler, 65, of Canton, said that while Medicare needs to be “tweaked,” Ryan’s plan is “terrible.”

“It’s a way of dismantling” Medicare,” said the Healy-Abrams supporter. “It’s going to reduce your benefits probably and if you have pre-existing conditions, you’re going to pay more than today. ... to throw the baby out with the bath water, I don’t see it.”

ROBOCALLS

Healy-Abrams’ campaign has also issued a statement saying automated robocalls to voters by Congressional Leadership Fund and YG Action last week incorrectly claimed that Healy-Abrams backed more than $700 billion in cuts to Medicare.

The Republicans’ charge that Obama and a Democratic Congress cut more than $700 billion from Medicare is based on a couple of provisions in the Affordable Care Act. The law reduces or eliminates subsidies to private providers of Medicare Advantage Plans, which supporters of the law say don’t improve seniors’ health. It also sets tighter limits on increases in payment rates to medical providers. The act uses the more than $700 billion in “savings” over 10 years to help subsidize the purchase of health insurance plans on exchanges by many people ineligible for Medicare or who lack coverage.

Page 3 of 3 -
More details about Ryan’s plan for Medicare can be found at: